The N and KN versions of Windows 8 are offered to the public in order to abide by the fair competition rules imposed by the European Union back in 2004. The ‘N’ editions provide users with the same functionality as Windows 8, but without having Windows Media Player installed by default.

Especially created for users of the N and KN editions of Windows 8, the Media Feature Pack is the gimmick that Microsoft found in order to keep these slimmed down versions at the same price as the full ones.

Media Feature Pack for Windows 8 N and Windows 8 KN is offered for free to users who want to enjoy the advantages of Windows Media Player and other media-related technologies on machines running an ‘N’ edition of the popular operating system.

The lack of media-related technologies and pre-installed applications in Windows 8 N and KN prevents users from playing multimedia content, creating playlists, transferring music to portable devices or sharing them throughout a network, creating audio CDs or DVDs, streaming multimedia content and manipulating playback or use the webcam, actions that many of us find indispensable.

In the absence of these features, Windows 8 K and KN are not capable of playing slideshows, capture images, synchronize media content, grab images from cameras using the PTP protocol or perform audio recording.

The pack really comes in handy to users of the K and KN versions of Windows 8, enabling them to activate the media functionality on their computers and thus upgrade it to the ‘full’ version without additional costs.

Media Feature Pack for Windows 8 N and Windows 8 KN was reviewed by Mihaela Citea, last updated on October 29th, 2013